Details:
The focus of my laboratory is the understanding of basic mechanisms that regulate the fate of stem cells within tissues. We are currently studying skin and hair follicle stem cells using cell culture and the mouse as model systems. Hair follicle stem cells reside in their niche in a quiescent state, but become rapidly activated in response to homeostatic and injury signals to regenerate the tissue. We are analyzing the physiological role of several genes implicated in different aspects of stem cell activation, self-renewal, and differentiation. Our general focus is on stem cell fate choice by epigenetic regulation, transcription regulation via specific developmental transcription factors, and chromatin modifying factors. Additionally, we recently began to explore the potential implication of our genes of interest in cancer.